


The Unluckiest

by kumarei



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Homestuck Shipping Olympics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-26
Updated: 2012-07-26
Packaged: 2017-11-10 19:42:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/469948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kumarei/pseuds/kumarei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mindfang loses The Dolorosa to Dualscar in a wager.</p><p>I wrote this for the first round of the Homestuck Shipping Olympics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Unluckiest

"I don't lose," said Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, condescension dripping from her voice.

Dolorosa sat next to her, trying not to fidget. She focused on the touch of Mindfang's hand on her leg, and tried to ignore Dualscar's looks of covetous hatred. It was hard, though. His eyes touched something in Dolorosa, a fear and loathing that ran far deeper than was justified by the single day she had spent as an unknown slave in his hold. She knew his eyes. They had appeared in her nightmares.

Dualscar smiled at Mindfang, not unlike a blood beast smiling at its prey. "If you're sure you don't lose, play me using these."

Dualscar opened a small leather pouch, and lifted out two eight sided dice. They were white, so polished that they seemed to radiate a prismatic rainbow when light struck them.

Mindfang looked at him, her face blank. Dolorosa caught a twitch of her cheeck, though, the hint of a smile that could have been amusement or annoyance. "You expect me to gam8ble with loaded dice?"

The Orphaner Dualscar shrugged. "I think you wwould. You don't havve to wworry about that, though. They aren't loaded."

"You think I'll 8elieve that?" Mindfang asked, raising her eyebrows. Her hand stroked Dolorosa's leg.

Dualscar watched Mindfang's arm, a sneer of disgust on his lips. He turned away, and slid the dice across the table. "Wweigh them in your hand," he said. "You knoww wwell enough to tell if they're loaded."

Mindfang eyed the dice closely as she hefted them. Then she turned her hand and let them fall to the table. They clattered to a rest.

On the top face of each of the dice, printed clearly and unmistakably, was a single black dot.

Dolorosa was stunned. She had never seen her owner roll anything but an eight. Her eyes flicked to Dualscar, who was grinning like an idiot, sharp teeth framed by ugly lips.

"Wwell?" he asked. "They aren't loaded, are they?"

Mindfang's face was blank, but her hand had stopped moving on Dolorosa's leg. "No. They aren't loaded."

"So you'll play?"

"I'll play,"

"Good," Dualscar said. He picked up a second pair of dice. They were dull and purple. "You wwant the gold I brought aboard yesterday?"

Mindfang nodded.

"If I win, I'll take that slavve that sits next to you," Dualscar said. "A small trophy, yes, but it's so unlikely I'll wwin that it hardly matters."

Dualscar turned his gaze on Dolorosa, and she felt a shudder run down her spine. She didn't want to be part of this bet. She felt like bolting, but Mindfang's hand on her leg restrained her.

"It's done," Mindfang said. She picked up the pair of white dice.

Dolorosa's vision clouded up, and she had to blink rapidly to clear the blue haze. She tried to convince herself that it was fine, that her owner never lost, but she couldn't help remembering the roll only moments before.

Dualscar shook his dice eagerly, and let them fly. Dolorosa felt her stomach leap as she watched the dice roll to a stop. Then she let out a breath. It was a bad roll. The butterflies in her stomach didn't leave, though.

Mindfang, for her turn, lifted the dice and flicked them from her fingers. They rolled three times each and clattered to a stop. Dolorosa stared at them for a moment, uncomprehending. Mindfang had rolled snake eyes.

Without uttering a word, Mindfang stood from the table. The scratching of wooden chair on the floor was the only sound. Dolorosa stared at her owner as Mindfang turned, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and walked out the door.

Dolorosa rose to follow, and behind her she could hear Dualscar doing the same. She didn't even glance at him, though. She followed her owner out the door and up to the deck of the ship.

Although the ship skimmed above most of the cloud cover, a grey mist swirled around its deck. Mindfang was a dark outline to Dolorosa, even though she was only a few feet in front of her. Dolorosa followed her to the edge of the ship, where a wooden bridge connected Dualscar's ship to Mindfang's, and was just about to step up onto the gangplank when a pair of large, strong hands gripped her shoulders.

"Wwhere do you think you're going?" Dualscar asked.

Ahead of Dolorosa, Mindfang's outline was disappearing into the haze. "no," Dolorosa said, tugging at the hands that held her. "please, don't leave me."

Mindfang stopped. She turned and walked back to where Dolorosa stood. Dolorosa felt her pulse begin to race. She wasn't going to be left after all. She raised her arms, reaching out for Mindfang, and looked up into her face.

Mindfang scowled down at her. Dolorosa had never seen her so angry. She stood frozen as Mindfang bent down to her and slapped her in the face. Her cheek stung, and the pain went down to her core.

Harsh fingers grabbed her chin, and forced her eyes upward to meet Mindfang's. Dolorosa saw her through a watery haze.

"You said you'd do anything for me," Mindfang said.

"yes," Dolorosa said. "anything, just take me with you."

"No," Mindfang said. "I lost a 8et. You're his now. Stay."

Mindfang turned and walked back across the gangplank. Dualscar pulled Dolorosa to the side as the board was raised, and Mindfang's ship began to pull away, drifting downward into the clouds until it was out of sight. Dolorosa continued watching for a long time afterwards.

"You think she'll rescue you, don't you?" Dualscar asked. He brushed the hair away from her ear and whispered into it. "She wwon't. She lost a bet, and she takes gambling seriously."

Dolorosa stood still, unmoving, staring at the clouds where Mindfang's ship had disappeared.

"I alwways wwondered wwhat she sees in you," Dualscar whispered. He brought his fingernail up to her cheek and pressed hard, until he was just short of drawing blood. "Wwhat color is your blood?" He removed his fingernail, but Dolorosa could feel the indentation that it left. "I'll be patient, though. I'll find out tonight, if you're still alivve by then." He patted her shoulder, and then turned away. "Throww yourself off the edge of my ship, if you like. I'll evven givve you your freedom, if you do. You can free fall all the wway dowwn."

He walked away chuckling, and left her standing there, Mindfang's words still echoing in her ears. "You said you'd do anything for me. You're his now. Stay."

\--------

Dolorosa drew a halting breath as Mindfang ran her fingertip down the crest of her ear.

"What would you do for me?" Mindfang whispered, her breath tiny spider's legs against Dolorosa's skin. 

For a moment, Dolorosa was silent. Then something rough and wet pressed against her earlobe, and she let out a short squeak.

Mindfang's tongue was followed by her teeth. They tugged at Dolorosa's ear, eliciting a hiss of pleasure or pain. Whichever it was, Dolorosa's mind was empty, and Mindfang's question was forgotten.

Mindfang remembered, though. She released her hold on Dolorosa's ear and her words once again tickled Dolorosa's skin. "What would you do for me?"

"I'll Be Your Follower," Dolorosa said without thinking.

Mindfang came up short. Her body moved away from Dolorosa's, leaving a cold empty void.

Why had Dolorosa said that? What had she meant by it? The words had felt familiar on her tongue, like something she had said before, but when she reached for the memory it evaded her. She hadn't tried to remember anything for a long time, and the effort was like swimming against the current.

"What do you mean 8y that?" Mindfang asked. She stared at Dolorosa as if she were trying to penetrate her skull with her gaze, and inside Dolorosa something cracked. Feelings and images came pouring free.

The warmth of a grub against her chest, the pride of a child raised outside of the world, the awe, the love. Things that warmed her. And then, faster, the fear of the hunter, death, war, a man standing tall with a spear gun and terrible purple eyes running and stumbling and no he's catching up reaching out but he's already lost shambles the bastard Highblood sitting on his throne and then her grub, an adult, burning in the noonday sun, a sun that scorched her skin even in the heavy robes and the copper red stain on the ground and he hung there, dying.

"No!" Dolorosa thrashed, pushed the memories away as hard as she could. It was too much, too painful. She didn't know what it meant. It wasn't hers. It had nothing to do with her. She was a slave aboard the ship of the Marquise Spinneret Mindfang. She loved her master, and her master cared for her and loved her and punished her when she deserved it.

She breathed erratically, her head cradled in her palms. There was a hitch in her breath, something like a sob, but her eyes were dry.

The touch of fingers on her skin made her flinch. There was a soft shushing noise, and with it Dolorosa began to relax. A hand rested on her shoulder, warm and comforting, and she looked up.

"It's okay," Mindfang said, and she lifted her hand to cup Dolorosa's cheek. For a moment, Dolorosa thought she saw a smile play across Mindfang's lips, one not entirely compassionate. She lost sight of it as Mindfang approached her, though, and it was forgotten as Mindfang's lips brushed against her own.

Mindfang had never kissed Dolorosa so softly. For a moment, Dolorosa let herself be kissed, not responding. After a particularly soft kiss that landed on her chin, though, Dolorosa leaned in to kiss her back. Mindfang's lips quickly grew demanding, and Dolorosa gave in easily, losing herself to it. Mindfang's kiss ground her lips into her teeth, and Mindfang's hands grasped their way roughly down her back, pushing and pulling and kneading her skin.

Mindfang pushed her back onto the hard floor. Her body was on top of Dolorosa's, their skin pressed tight together. Their sweat had chilled, and the cool breaks in the warm continuity of their skin sent shivers down Dolorosa's spine.

Mindfang bit into Dolorosa's lip, and Dolorosa gasped, her body arching against Mindfang, her nipples rasping against Mindfang's sandpaper smooth skin. Mindfang pulled away and sat up, looking expectantly at Dolorosa. Dolorosa could feel her wet bulge pressing against Mindfang's, and tried to wiggle, to press them together, but Mindfang's legs held her hips motionless.

"Well?" Mindfang asked. "I want a real answer to my question. What would you do for me?"

This time, the answer was simple. No strange memories bubbled to the surface of Dolorosa's mind. She answered out of pure lust. "anything," she said.

"i'll do anything for you."

\--------

Dolorosa found the dice on the table, exactly where Dualscar had left them. She stared at them for a moment. The way that they threw of a rainbow of colors, as if they were the sun after a rain, should have unnerved her. There was something un-troll like about the colors, but that same quality drew her to them. Before she knew it, her fingers had wrapped around them. They felt warm in her palm.

"You're probably wwondering howw I did it, aren't you?"

Dolorosa took a sharp breath and froze. She didn't turn, afraid she would give herself away.

"I cheated, of course," Dualscar continued, oblivious. "I didn't load the dice; she wwould have noticed that. No, it's the dice themselvves that are special." He reached out from behind her and touched her hair. "Just like you, they are vvery, vvery unlucky. The unluckiest dice in the wworld."

As he talked, Dolorosa slipped the dice into a hidden pocket in front of her ragged clothing. When she felt his fingers on her hair, she stepped away from him and turned. He wasn't quite between her and the door. She might be able to make it. She silently prayed that it would take time for him to notice the dice were missing.

Dualscar smiled at her. "You can't escape me, you knoww. Soon I'll showw you pain. But first, I wwant to see your despair. I wwant you to know howw fucked you are." His grin grew wider. "I wwant to see if you jump. I can make you suffer, but nothing wwill hurt Mindfang more than if you're out of her grasp forevver. So run, if you can."

Dolorosa ran.

\--------

"I have a request for you," Mindfang said. She was laying beside Dolorosa, her cheeks flushed blue.

"anything," Dolorosa said.

"Dualscar found something. A pair of dice that are so unlucky that they'll defeat even my powers. He has no idea how valua8le they are." Mindfang leaned in and pressed her lips against Dolorosa's forehead. "I need you to take them from him."

"how?" Dolorosa asked.

"He's an idiot. You'll have a chance. Just pick them up and take them somewhere he can't follow. I'll make sure you'll have all the time in the world."

\--------

Without thinking, Dolorosa ran to the deck of the ship, to the short railing at the side. There was nowhere that she could hide the dice, nowhere that Dualscar couldn't find them. She couldn't leave them here.

She looked over the railing, and took an involuntary step back. She couldn't see very far; the clouds had cleared from the deck, but they hovered below, blocking her view of the ground. Just the thought of the height made her dizzy, though.

Behind her, she heard the sound of a wooden door slamming open, and she looked back to see Dualscar panting, his lips bent into a sneer. There was a huge spear gun in his hand. He walked toward her, and Dolorosa edged backward until she was pressed against the railing.

"You have something of mine," Dualscar said. "Givve it back, or things wwill go vvery badly for you." He stopped a dozen feet from her, and raised the spear gun, aiming it at her stomach. "I wwill invvent wwhole neww tortures for you. Step awway from the edge."

For a moment, everything froze. Dolorosa looked into Dualscar's eyes. Those purple eyes that Dolorosa knew so well.

Her back straightened, and she stood taller than he. She looked down at him. "Orphaner. I Thought You Wanted Me To Jump."

Dualscar stared at her as if she were crazy.

Dolorosa smiled. The memories, the pain, were flooding back. The sight of her grub, an adult, chained up and bleeding in the hot sun. The hunter, who chased them across the land on the orders of the Highblood. "The Worst You Can Do Is Kill Me. You Already Did That, Long Ago."

Dualscar shook his head, as if trying to remember. "Wwho?" Quickly, though, his scowl returned. "It doesn't matter. Come forwward or die."

Dolorosa smiled beatifically, and closed her eyes. She opened her mouth, and the word rang across the deck as clear as a bell. "No."

Dualscar's finger twitched, and his spear gun fired with a loud crack. The spear leapt across the deck, covering the distance in less than a second. Had it been twice as fast, it would has pierced Dolorosa's stomach. But Dolorosa had already leaned back over the railing, her feet leaving the ground.

The spear scraped her, cutting her clothes and leaving a green line down her stomach. Then it was lost among the clouds.

Dolorosa finished her tumble backwards, clearing the side of the ship. The air screamed around her. Her stomach stung. The memories she had seen and the calm that had settled over her were both blown away in the wind. She opened her eyes, blinking to clear them. She was falling away from Dualscar's ship, and a sudden panic gripped her. Dualscar leaned over the side, watching her, and she reached out as if she could catch his arm.

"help me," she said, but he was far away. The words weren't for him, anyway.

Suddenly, her neck was jerked backward and the breath was knocked from her body. She wondered if she had landed and died. Her head ached, and the skin of her stomach felt raw. She blinked slowly.

Towering over her was the mast of a ship. Head still spinning, Dolorosa looked around, and found that she was laying in a giant spider web.

Mindfang's face peered over the side of the spidery netting, and Dolorosa sighed in relief, letting her eyes drift closed again. A moment later, she felt herself being lifted.

"How are you feeling?" Mindfang asked.

"fine," Dolorosa said, although her voice was barely a whisper.

"Did you get the dice?"

Dolorosa nodded, and reached into the hidden pocket. Her fingers searched, but felt only a sticky wetness. She opened her eyes, and found that there was a hole in the pocket, and her fingers were searching the wound at her stomach. She looked up at Mindfang.

"They're gone, then?" Mindfang asked.

Dolorosa nodded.

Mindfang gave a half smile. "You did what I asked, though not all that I hoped." She leaned down to Dolorosa's ear and whispered, "I'm going to have to punish you tonight."

Dolorosa felt a hot flush rising in her cheeks. She could guess the kind of punishment that Mindfang meant.

Mindfang stepped to the railing of the ship and looked over the edge, as if hoping to see the dice. She sighed. "At least I'll get something from this. I can't w8 to see Dualscar's face. Take us up!"

The ship rose until their deck was even with Dualscar's. Dualscar still stood at the railing, and his eyes widened to comical proportion as Mindfang and Dolorosa rose into view.

"I told you, Dualscar! I don't lose!" Mindfang yelled, her voice carrying over the sound of the wind.

They continued to rise. Dolorosa watched Dualscar as he recovered and began yelling at his crew. It was too late, though. Dualscar was too slow.

As Dualscar's ship disappeared into the clouds, Dolorosa huddled close to Mindfang. All the memories and terrors of that day were forgotten.

She was home.


End file.
